Walking the Labyrinth: A Place to Pray and Seek God

by Travis Scholl, Walter Wangerin (Foreword by), Jr. Wangerin (Foreword by)

Overview

One day Travis Scholl discovered a labyrinth in his neighborhood. As he began to walk it, he found this ancient practice offered a much-needed path away from life's demands, allowing him to encounter God in quiet solitude.

In this meditative guide, Travis Scholl takes readers on a journey:

"The path is always new, because, as a spiritual discipline, the labyrinth is a tool for contemplation, for reflection, for prayer. Underneath the surface, walking the labyrinth is a profound exercise in listening, in active silence, in finding movement and rhythm in the stillnesses underneath and in between every day's noise. Walking the labyrinth is an exercise in finding the voice speaking in whispers underneath the whirlwind of sound."

With no end, but only a center, labyrinths become a physical symbol of prayer and our journey with God. Each step unites faith and action as travelers take one step at a time, living each moment in trust and willingness to follow the course set before them.

Providing a historical and modern context for this unique spiritual discipline, Scholl weaves his own journey through a labyrinth with the Gospel of Mark's telling of the twists and turns of Jesus' life, providing 40 reflections ideal for daily reading during Lent or any time of the year.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830895939
Publisher:	IVP Formatio
Publication date:	09/05/2014
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Walter Wangerin, Jr. is the award-winning author of thirty-five books, including the best-selling The Book of God, the National Book Award-winning The Book of the Dun Cow, and, most recently, Letters from the Land of Cancer. Wangerin holds the Jochum Chair at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he teaches literature and creative writing, and is writer-in-residence.

Travis Scholl is the managing editor for theological publications at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He writes regularly for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on religion and culture and has published poems in Peregrine, Palimpsest, and Prospect. He holds an MDiv from Yale University Divinity School and is ordained in the LCMS. He is also the author of Living Lent: Daily Prayers for the Season. Scholl is currently a PhD candidate in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Missouri, Columbia; Scott Cairns is his advisor.

Travis Scholl is the managing editor for theological publications at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He writes regularly for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on religion and culture. He holds an MDiv from Yale University Divinity School and is the author of Living Lent: Daily Prayers for the Season.

Walter Wangerin, Jr. is the award-winning author of thirty-five books, including the best-selling The Book of God, the National Book Award-winning The Book of the Dun Cow, and, most recently, Letters from the Land of Cancer. Wangerin holds the Jochum Chair at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he teaches literature and creative writing, and is writer-in-residence.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Before the Beginning
1. Entrance
2. In the Middle of Things
3. Wilderness
4. Work
Part 2: Christ, the Path
5. Threshold
6. Worship
7. Liminality
8. A Game
9. Rain
10. The Signs
Part 3: The Way of Love
11. Tree of Life
12. Seed
13. Children
14. In Peace
15. Passage
16. As Yet Untrodden
Part 4: Calling, by Name
17. Petals
18. The Sea
19. The Number Eleven
20. Between the Lines
21. Secret
22. Cross
Part 5: Practicing the Everyday
23. Transfigured
24. Facing Failure
25. Safe at Home
26. In Bloom
27. Child's Play
28. Marathon
Part 6: The Things We Keep and Leave Behind
29. Labor
30. The Path
31. Running Late
32. But Now I See
33. Heartbeat
34. Near and Not Far
Part 7: The Way of the Cross
35. Around and Around
36. To the West
37. A Memory
38. Anonymous
39. Silence
40. Exit
Part 8: After the End
Acknowledgments
Appendix: Ways to Walk a Labyrinth
Daily Scripture Readings Index

What People are Saying About This

Dorothy C. Bass

"As Travis Scholl invites readers to join him in walking the labyrinth, he guides them not only along a spiraling path on the ground but also on a journey into the heart of Christian faith. Read and walk with him through these pages and discover new paths into Scripture and prayer."

Scott Cairns

"Travis Scholl has begun . . . to recover, for himself and for his reader, a taste for endlessness, a taste for the infinite. . . . Walking the labyrinth with our hearts in prayer becomes, then, a way of our recovering a provisional glimpse of the Way himself, his inexhaustible love, his exceedingly great joy in our following him, now and ever."

Marva J. Dawn

"Travis Scholl contributes a thorough model for those of us who have little experience with the discipline of walking a labyrinth. . . . This is a heart-provoking book!"

Editorial Reviews

"Travis Scholl has begun . . . to recover, for himself and for his reader, a taste for endlessness, a taste for the infinite. . . . Walking the labyrinth with our hearts in prayer becomes, then, a way of our recovering a provisional glimpse of the Way himself, his inexhaustible love, his exceedingly great joy in our following him, now and ever."

Scott Cairns

"By blending historical and literary background with gospel insight Scholl offers an accessible guide for a 40-day Lenten journey Walking the Labyrinth any day and every day. Along with 40 meditations linked with specific verses in Mark's gospel, the book has brief instructions for 'Ways to Walk the Labyrinth,' five references for further reading on labyrinths, and three references for Mark study. This is a useful guide for both novices and experienced labyrinth walkers."

Sharing the Practice

"As Travis Scholl invites readers to join him in walking the labyrinth, he guides them not only along a spiraling path on the ground but also on a journey into the heart of Christian faith. Read and walk with him through these pages and discover new paths into Scripture and prayer."

Dorothy C. Bass

"This book offers a meditative look at spirituality and the spiritual disciplines of prayer and mindfulness. . . . Certainly those that choose to use this book as a Lenten guide will find it valuable. This book would be valuable in almost any library, but church and parish libraries may find it to be particularly worthwhile."

Timothy Senapatiratne

"Travis Scholl contributes a thorough model for those of us who have little experience with the discipline of walking a labyrinth. . . . This is a heart-provoking book!"

Marva J. Dawn

"This book invites its readers into a close and mindful reading of Mark's gospel, to find and ponder riches not seen or stopped for before. But it also does the same for the unfolding existence of the crucified, risen, and living followers of Christ who've grown too comfortable with easy answers or personal and cultural certainties. It is as beautiful in its writing as it is brutal in its honest assessments. Provocative discoveries abound for one to meditate upon and walk through every twist and turn along the way. . . . Part of IVP's Formatio series, which seeks to foster the church's rich tradition of spiritual formation through transformation by Christ and conformity to his image, Walking the Labyrinth makes a worthy and welcome contribution."

Joel R. Kurz

"In this unique and refreshing guide—forty reflections ideal for Lent or at any time—religion writer and seminary administrator Reverend Scholl combines the ancient spiritual discipline of walking the labyrinth with Mark's words on the life of Jesus. Each is a process of discovery, holding twists and turns, inviting contemplation and keen awareness. Each will prompt us to move ahead, to go deeper. And each has no ending."

Martha Dudich